Telegram, a free cross-platform messaging app, recieved millions of new users
after WhatsApp crashed over the weekend. Will it become the new instant
messenger of choice, asks Rhiannon Williams

Following the news WhatsApp had crashed following server issues on Saturday, users raced to find an app alternative. Their platform of choice turned out to be Telegram, a recently-developed cross-platform messenger based in Berlin, which gained close to five million new users in 24 hours and subsequently suffered its own server problems under the influx. But will they stick around?

Many were unhappy at the announcement that Facebook had purchased WhatsApp for a mind-boggling $19 billion. Despite Facebook's assurances not to place adverts within the service, there is talk it's unlikely the social network would be willing to spend so much money on a service and not change to tweak it somehow.

At first appearances, Telegram is identical to WhatsApp. You need the number of the recipient in order to message them, can chat to contacts individually or in groups, and know the recipient has received and read your messages through a single and double tick system - all like WhatsApp. But where it differs to WhatsApp is what makes it interesting.

Telegram demonstrates a healthy sense of humour

Telegram gives you the ability to send messages and photos with a self-destruct timer, much like another popular app. Like Snapchat, it's still possible to screenshot these images or texts before they disappear within the 'secret chat'. Within a secret chat, documents, videos, locations and searched images can all be shared, last from two seconds from up to a week. The app prides itself on its enhanced security, which it attributes to time-tested algorithms which combine security with high-speed delivery and reliability.

A secret chat uses end-to-end encryption, meaning nobody but the sender and recipient can read the messages - not even the Telegram staff. Secret chat messages can't be forwarded to others outside of the conversation, and no trace is left on their servers. So confident is Telegram in the security of their messages, they're offering $200,000 worth of Bitcoin to the first hacker to break into its encrypted protcol until March 1. It's also cloud-based, meaning messages can be sent and accessed from multiple devices, including desktops.

While its unlikely the majority of Telegram's five million new users will have real cause to use the self-destruct feature beyond a bit of sexting, it's a fascinating area. Following the revelations the NSA pulled data from apps including Angry Birds, there is a growing demand for safer, more secure forms of exchanging information, and though it has yet to add the audio message and soon to be voice calls enjoyed by WhatsApp fans, Telegram could just be the next big thing.